"Educated" Review

"Educated"

 

by

 

Tara Westover

9/10

 

My Synopsis:

 

This is a memoir of the life of Tara Westover.  She was born into a reclusive, non-conformist family with some unconventional and sometimes paranoid ideas.  Ms. Westover was raised on a mountainside in Idaho with her brothers and sister.  The family had some, for lack of a better word, interesting beliefs.  The children were born at home and not sent to school when they were old enough.  They were homeschooled with out of date textbooks if they were schooled at all.  The story tell of her experiences within her family on the mountain and as she begins to branch out into the world her family fears.  It tells of her struggles with her controlling father, her abusive brother, and within herself as she tries to test the limits placed on her and grow into something she's been told she will never be capable of being.

 

 

My Opinion:

I love a memoir.  I love that what I am reading has actually happened to someone.  I love the taste of reality it brings and "Educated" was a peek into the life of Tara Westover and the entire Westover clan.  From humble beginnings, Ms. Westover takes us on a voyage from a mountainside junkyard to the halls of some of the most prestigious learning institutions on earth.  Her narrative is so matter of fact and real that I found myself frustrated and stifled when reading of her repeated altercations with her father and one of her brothers.  The mountain was brought to life and was almost tangible through Ms. Westover's descriptions but also through her descriptions I learned that on that mountainside within that family is some place I never want to be.  It is amazing the woman she has become and that she was able to overcome the obstacles of her family, her lack of education, and even her mental state.  I have to say I admire her.  Her writing had me cheering for her at every turn and shouting "No" when she backslid into old ways when visiting her family.  Her account of the abuse and the brainwashing within her family was frightening.  Their justification of attitudes and decisions as based on religion was difficult to read.  Usually when I read a memoir, I think of it as a person and their story.  This time I realized something I hadn't felt with other autobiographies.  The people in her book are still out there in this world that we all live in doing exactly what she said they did in this book.  Yes, she brought them to life with her words but they were also alive and I found that frightening.  So if you want to hop off the grid and experience the journey of strength and courage, pick up a copy of "Educated" by Tara Westover.  9/10